Utensil cleaner



Sept. 18, 1956 WHITE 2,763,018

UTENSIL CLEANER Filed June 25, 1954 A/vrHo/vY 5. WHITE 2% wp/M A TTOPNEY EIEJE- Unitfid States atent UTENSIL CLEANER Anthony E. White, Pacoima,Calif., assignor to Fern M. White, Pacoima, Calif.

Application June 25, 1954, Serial No. 439,273

Claims. (Cl. 15-105) This invention relates to utensil cleaners and hasparticular reference to cleaners for such utensils as spatulas, knives,and other similar articles used for cooking or food handling purposes,especially in restaurants, etc., where such utensils are in more or lesscontinuous use, and require frequent cleaning. Generally this is done byrubbing the utensil with a rag or brush. This not only entailsconsiderable time, but often such cleaning is difiicult in cases wheregrease and food particles become firmly attached to the surface of theutensil.

Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to provide acleaner which will rapidly and effectively clean utensils of the abovetype.

Another object is to provide a cleaner of the above type which willclean flat ware utensils of different thicknesses and widths.

Another object is to provide a cleaner of the above type which, itself,may be easily and readily cleaned.

A further object is to provide a cleaner of the above type which issimple and economical to manufacture.

The manner in which the above and other objects of the invention areaccomplished will be readily understood on reference to the followingspecification when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a partial plan view of a utensil cleaner embodying a preferredform of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional side view of the cleaner and is taken along thelines 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view taken in the direction of the arrow 3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an end view taken in the direction of the arrow 4 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view through the lower movable cleanerbars and is taken along the line 55 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, the cleaner embodies a base 11 which isremovably mounted on a suitable bracket, shelf or the like 12, thelatter being preferably secured to a wall or other solid support in amanner not shown. For this purpose, the base is provided with a dowelpin 13 fitted in a mating hole in the bracket and a threaded stud 14also extending through a mating hole in the bracket. A thumb nut 15holds the cleaner in place but enables the same to be readily removedfor cleaning.

An upright wall 16 is suitably secured to the base 11 and is held rigidrelative thereto by an angle brace 17.

A pair of spaced, parallel and horizontally extending cleaner bars 18and 19 are suitably secured by nuts 20 to the outer side of the wall 16.Directly below the bars 18 and 19 is a second pair of similarly disposedbut movable cleaner bars 21 and 22.

Referring to Fig. 5 in particular, the ends of the bars 21 and 22adjacent to the wall 16 are integrally secured to opposite ends of ashort cross head 23. The latter is pivoted, by means of a pivot pin 24to the rearwardly extending end of an actuating lever 25. This lever hasa stud 26 which extends through a bearing 26a formed 2 in the wall 16 toform a pivotal support for the lever. A handle, partially shown at 27,is secured to the forward end of the lever 25 to facilitate rocking ofthe lever to raise the bars 21 and 22.

As will be seen in Fig. 5, the bar 21 is provided with an upwardlyopening slot along the length thereof, in which is suitably secured awiper blade 28 of rubber,- neoprene, or similar material which iscapable of resisting neat, grease and oil. Likewise the bar 22 isprovided with a similar slot along the length thereof, in which issuitably secured a scraper blade 30 of steel or similar hard material.Similarly, the bar 18 is provided with a downwardly opening slot (notshown) along the length thereof in which is secured a wiperblade 31 ofrubber or the like, while the scraper bar 19 is provided with a slot inwhich is secured a blade 32 of metal or similar material. 7

It will be noted that the pairs of blades 18, 31 and 30, 32 are directlyopposite each other. Thus, when a spatula, indicated by the dot-dashlines 34, or similar flat ware utensil, is placed between the pairs ofblades, the handle 27 pressed downward to raise the lower blades, andthe spatula then drawn forwardly, the blades will become effective toscrape and wipe both surfaces thereof. That is, as the spatula is drawnforwardly (to the left in Fig. 3), the surfaces thereof will first bescraped by the relatively hard scraping edges presented by blades 30 and3 2. Then, the wiping edges presented by the rubber blades 28 and 31will become effective to wipe off any remaining grease or food particleswhich may be left. Also, the rubber edges, because of their resiliency,embrace the edges of the spatula and thus clean such edges.

In order to guide a spatula or other article laterally between opposedones of the bars, deflector plates 35 and 36 are provided. The former isattached to the ends of the bars 18 and 19 by screws 37 while the latteris similarly secured to the ends of the bars 21 and 22. The deflectorplates have diverging guide surfaces which guide the spatula in place.

Also, a guide bar 38 is secured to the lever stud 26 and extendsparallel to the various scraping and wiping bars. The position of theguide bar 38 is so arranged as to aid in guiding the spatula and tosupport the same in place in the event the spatula is left or stored inits position shown in Fig. 3. The right hand end of the bar 38 inclinesdownwardly so as not to interfere with guiding the utensil intoposition.

In order to limit closing of the bars for different thicknesses ofutensils, the lower bars 21 and 22 have reduced shank portions 40 and41, respectively, which extend through enlarged openings 42 in the wall16. The shank 41 also extends through an elongated opening 43 in thelever 25, permitting the bars 21 and 22 to rock slightly relative to thelever. The shanks 40 and 41 are adapted to limit against the ends ofadjustable stop screws 44 and 45 threaded in brackets 46 which aremounted on the ends of bars 18 and 19 and held in place by nuts 20.

Since the stop screws 44 and 45 are located some distance laterally fromone side of the lever 25, they are effective to cause the lower bars 21and 22 to assume a parallel relation with respect to the upper bars 18and 19 when the latter are raised, in spite of any forces to thecontrary.

A pan 47 is provided to receive scraped or wiped food particles and thelike removed by the blades. The pan rests on the base 11 and isremovably held in place by a spring catch 48. The latter issubstantially U-shaped, the longer leg of which is suitably secured toone end of the pan. The catch extends through a hole 49 in the wall 16and the shorter leg thereof abuts against the side of the wall to lockthe pan in place. However, by depressing the shorter leg, it will becomealigned with the hole 49 to enable removal of the pan to empty itscontents.

An important feature of my invention is the provision for storing aspatula when not in use. When the spatula is placed in the device, asindicated at 34, it rests on the bar 38. In this position, the spatulatends to rock counter-clockwise because of the weight of its handleportion partially shown at 3411. Thus, the blade portion 34b of thespatula engages the upper scraping blade 32 and normally lies clear ofwiping blade 31. When the handle 27 is depressed, the various bladesgrip the spatula blade portion, rocking the spatula clockwise a slightamount about the blade 32 as a pivot. This permits the spatula to bedrawn out to the left in Fig. 3 so that it is cleaned as itis removedfrom the device.

Having thus described the invention, what I desire to secure by UnitedStates Letters Patent is: l. A cleaner for utensils of the characterdescribed comprising a pair of upper and lower elements of relativelyhard material presenting opposed scraping edges, a second pair of upperand lower elements of relatively soft resilient material presentingopposed wiping edges, said edges being effective to clean the surfacesof a utensil drawn there-between, a cross head supporting said lowerelements for movement toward and away from said upper elements, and amanually operable actuator pivotally connected to said cross headintermediate said lower elements for moving said lower elements.

2. A cleaner for utensils of the character described comprising a pairof upper and lower elements of relatively hard material presentingopposed scraping edges, a second pair of upper and lower elements ofrelatively soft resilient material presenting opposed wiping edges, saidedges being effective to clean the surfaces of a utensil drawntherebetween, a cross head supporting said lower elements adjacent oneend of each thereof for movement toward and away from said upperelements, a

manually operable actuator pivotally connected to said cross headintermediate said lower elements for moving said lower elements, anddeflectors carried by said elements at the ends thereof opposite saidcross head for guiding a utensil into position between said upper andlower elements.

3. A cleaner according to claim 1 comprising means for adjustablylimiting the extent of movement of said lower elements toward therespective ones of said upper elements.

4. A cleaner for utensils of the character described comprising a pairof upper and lower elements of relatively hard material presentingopposed scraping edges, a second pair of upper and lower elements ofrelatively soft resilient material presenting opposed wiping edges, saidedges being effective to clean the surfaces of a utensil drawntherebetween, a cross head supporting said lower elements adjacent oneend of each thereof for movement toward andaway from said upperelements, a manually operable actuator connected to said cross head formoving said movable elements, extensions on said movable elementsprojecting to the side of said cross head opposite said movableelements, and stops engageable by said extensions whereby to limit theextent of movement of said movable elements toward the respective onesof said pairs.

5. A cleaner according to claim 1 comprising an elongated guide elementextending to one side of said first mentioned elements and having aguide surface substantially in line with said edges of said upperelements and spaced therefrom for guiding a utensil along said edges.

References Cited in the file of'this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,219,993 Omoto Mar. 20, 1917 2,253,249 Peterson Aug. 19, 1941 FOREIGNPATENTS 438,553 Great Britain Nov. 19, 1935

